NYC power lunch makes comeback as more workers return to office

The power lunch is back on the menu five days a week in the Big Apple – a major sign that Manhattan offices are buzzing again as more workers return to their desks following the pandemic, Side Dish has learned.

Midtown staples like Michael’s and Fresco by Scotto, along with newer hot spots from top chefs Daniel Boulud and Jean-Georges Vongerichten, have been swarming with the city’s movers and shakers hungry for a good meal and to make deals. 

“At first, the return of the power lunch was just Tuesday to Thursday. Now we really see it five days a week,” Boulud, whose restaurant empire includes One Vanderbilt’s Le Pavillon and Wall Street’s Le Gratin, told Side Dish.

Jonathan Tisch, CEO of Loews Hotels, once a regular at the now-defunct Barney’s, says he is back to power lunching — at the Loews’ Regency, naturally, as well as CoCo’s and Viand.

“Lunch is definitely back and will continue to increase as people return to the office,” Tisch said. 

Vongerichten’s Four Twenty Five in the Norman Foster-designed 425 Park Ave., home to Ken Griffin’s Citadel offices, recently expanded its lunch service for the entire workweek –  and was already filling up with diners for the first Monday serving.

“When I got the email that they were opening for lunch, I immediately made multiple reservations. This is what the neighborhood really needs,” said a well-dressed lawyer who works nearby as she dined with an investor.on the very first Monday. 

Vongerichten, who got his start across the street at the Drake Hotel in 1986, also plans to start serving lunch at an outpost of his plant-forward abcV at The Mark Hotel when it opens on April 15.

“Six months ago, I was nervous,” Vongerichten said. “In September and October, when we took over the [Four Twenty Five] space, no one was walking around the streets. But since January, people have started coming back to the office. I feel like it’s a whole new renaissance of Park Avenue and Midtown.” 

New York has fared better than other major cities in getting its workers back to their desks.  Overall foot traffic at Manhattan office buildings was down 17.2% last month from March 2019 – compared to the national average of 32.7%, according to the Placer.ai Office Index: March 2024 Recap.

Midtown’s list of sizzling lunch spots also includes Casa Lever, David Burke’s Park Avenue Kitchen, The Grill and The Pool, Fasano, and Quality Meats and Quality Italian. 

“People are coming back and we are ready for them,” said Rosanna Scotto, the “Good Day New York” host and member of the Fresco by Scotto family. 

Lauren Mitinas-Kelly, a top broker at Serhant, said she recently took a prospective client to Estiatorio Milos, a high-end Greek restaurant with locations in Midtown and Hudson Yards that is known for its fish dishes. 

“I just had a three-hour lunch at Milos and it was packed to the gills,” said Mitinas-Kelly, apparently no pun intended, adding that the only problem was that her lunch partner “doesn’t eat fish.” 

Popular West Village haunt Rosemary’s is opening a 6,000 square-foot space in Midtown — and lunch is a big part of it. 

“Coming out of the pandemic, it felt like Midtown needed a jolt of warmth and neighborhood hospitality more than ever. That’s what Midtown craves as offices attempt to lure their workers back to the office,” said Carlos Suarez, founder of hospitality company Casa Nela, which operates Bobo, Rosemary’s and Claudette. 

Boulud has also started serving lunch at Cafe Boulud at 100 E. 63rd St. — an even better reincarnation of its former self on E. 76th St, which attracted power brokers and social swans for more than a quarter of a century before it closed during the pandemic. 

Its exquisite sister restaurant, Maison Barnes, which shares a separate dining room and private bar in the space, will also be opening for lunch soon, Boulud said. 

Boulud added that the “ladies who lunch” are back, too — and there are also more power lunches for women in general.

Fridays “are the lunch of all power lunches. It’s the day they don’t go back to the office after lunch,” Boulud said. “People are more relaxed on Fridays. It’s definitely not the two-martini lunch, but there are a lot of celebrations.” 

Other new spots farther uptown include Masseria East, in the old Parma spot at 1404 Third Ave. — from co-owner Oriente Mania, who had been at Sette Mezzo for 36 years. 

Regulars include real estate hot shots Michele Kleier and her daughters, Sabrina Kleier Morgenstern and Samantha Kleier Forbes.

“What better place to negotiate a high-powered deal,” “Kleier Forbes said  “It is an art to know where to place people to make the magic happen and Oriente is the master. He has that golden touch.”

Still, some power brokers are keeping their pandemic pivots. 

Barbara Corcoran, for example, tells Side Dish she now invites people to join her for lunch at her office. 

“In a way it’s more flattering, like you are inviting them to your home,” she said.